Consoles have been a popular way to game for years, from the Nintendo NES Classic Edition and the Sega Genesis to the Sony PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox. With the gaming console market led by Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo, console manufacturers are offering unique incentives when you sign up as a subscriber to their online platforms. While bonuses are normally offered to tempt people to play online games, such as poker or bingo, they are slowly infiltrating the console market too.
One of the first online console platforms, Xbox Live, was launched in 2002 by Microsoft and is now known as the Xbox network. The Xbox Live subscription service launched late in 2002 and meant that players could play games online or offline.
While there have been free versions of this service, it is through the paid plans that you can access unique items and games. Xbox Live is now known as Xbox Live Gold, and players can have access to free games, discounts, and online multiplayer gaming for a monthly subscription cost.
While the PlayStation has been around longer than the Xbox, it is relatively new when it comes to offering an online platform. The creation of the PlayStation in 1995 came because of Ken Kutaragi watching his daughter play with a Nintendo console, and has come along in leaps and bounds since, with the PS5 being near-impossible to purchase.
Like the Xbox, Sony offers the PS Plus service, with 47.6 million subscribers worldwide, and is a paid subscription giving members two free PS4 games to download, as well as access to multiplayer gaming, discounts in the PlayStation Store, and bonus in-game items.
One of the newest consoles on the market, the Nintendo Switch was released in 2017, Nintendo had already announced before its release that there would be an online service for subscribers available after the launch.
Nintendo Switch Online has over 26 million members, with this number growing alongside sales of the console, and spikes in numbers in tandem with the release of games highlighting online play. As with Microsoft and Sony, Nintendo’s paid service offers online multiplayer gaming, cloud access for saves, as well as exclusive access to the classic games service.
It’s not just gaming consoles that offer a unique service, as online casinos have started offering their own incentives for subscribers. Take casino comparison site BonusFinder, for instance. In their post, New Jersey online casinos offer competitive bonuses for new members, but also give players the chance to enter loyalty clubs to access VIP benefits.
These benefits include special bonuses, gifts, and even discounts on hotel stays, highlighting just how competitive the online casino industry is. It also highlights the little-known pattern of online casino gaming taking cues from the console gaming world, and vice versa, as what works for one industry, such as offering incentives, often works for the other.
Regardless of whether you game on a console or online, the gaming industry remains extremely competitive, with manufacturers wanting to stay ahead of the competition.
By offering free games and other unique incentives, players are more likely to choose the premium subscriptions, as it appears better value for money. By offering unique incentives, also adds another layer to gaming for players to experience.
